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FEATURE ARTICLE –

The Auto Slowdown- what this means to the rest of us

Over the last few months sales of automobiles have slowed down worldwide. After three years of healthy automotive sales, automakers first tried to boost sales by incentives and advertising. These efforts failing, automakers are now putting some stringent limits on production.

GM, Ford and Daimler-Chrysler have announced plant slowdowns and even shutdowns potentially idling
19,000 autoworkers in North America. In Europe production capacity exceeds current demand by 38%.
The auto boom that we have experienced allowed automakers to delay the shutdown of some
assembly operations that were less than optimum in financial performance.

The slowdown in automotive manufacturing will affect suppliers as well. The automotive industry is a
cyclical one and experienced suppliers know this, however newer suppliers to automotive will be
anxious to develop business elsewhere. The important thing to keep in mind is that automakers will
be looking at their operations very closely eliminating those that are not profitable. At the same time
automakers will accelerate their efforts at outsourcing manufacturing. This is a theme we have covered
in previous newsletters. Astute suppliers can benefit from these inevitable developments. Suppliers
should second-guess automakers anticipating where plants and operations may be eliminated and position themselves accordingly.

PLASTIC MARKET TRENDS

Transportation- Aerospace: PPS Composites in Aircraft

Fokker Special Products has specified a Fortron PPS (polyphenylene sulfide)-based glass fabric composite for the inboard leading edge nose on the wings of the new Airbus A340-500 and 600 series planes. Working out of Hoogeveen, The Netherlands, Fokker is responsible for the development, engineering and manufacturing for this component. Ticona supplies the PPS resin. Tec Cate in Nijverdal, the Netherlands is the supplier of the fabric.
(For more details about this application)

Appliance/Electronic

An appliance-design futurist envisions plastics emulating human form, using nanotechnology to create hard polymer surfaces and incorporating functional displays in everyday products. Joseph Ungari, a Maytag senior industrial designer, sees plastics as offering the opportunity to give complex surfaces to large products such as refrigerators, ranges and wall ovens. Designers are beginning to link plastics and user emotions in major appliances however applications are still 5-7 years out. Plastics materials give designers great flexibility. In the past appliance manufacturers avoided plastics unless they had a high volume application due to tooling costs. The use of plastics will increase as manufacturers design future appliances.

Maytag recently introduced their new Neptune washer and dryer with the industry´s first liquid-crystal-display touchscreen controls. The twin units have major plastic components in the display console and interior and exterior door surfaces.

A new technology that is inspiring designers is Nanotechnology. Nanotechnology provides the ability to orchestrate material construction and characteristics at the molecular level. Although these composites will be used first in Medical or military applications, they will eventually find their way into major appliances and construction.

Eventually, cookware may combine ferrous iron or copper molecules with plastic, and entire walls would consist of plastic sheet with structural integrity. In eight to 10 years, designers may integrate thin-film, 1- or 2-millimeter-thick display technologies within a polymer material offering appliances added functionality.

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Hardware designers at Microsoft Corp. are developing plastic products outside the firm´s core in computer software. Microsoft has a couple of electronic gaming products that they have introduced this Holiday season using plastic components that are made by outside suppliers.

Microsoft gaming group´s SideWinder Strategic Commander and SideWinder Game Voice reached store shelves in September. The Sidewinder housing is molded with ABS, and the nine keys with clear polycarbonate. These keys light up when pushed. Microsoft wanted to do an insert molded two-step process but it didn’t work out. They experienced swirl in the metallic ABS keys. Microsoft switched to PC for the keys and used a Tampo-style process to pad-print silver ink. A clear glossy finish completed the process. The Game Voice device has an ABS housing with light-emitting elastomeric keys.

The Technology look is hot, and a metal look is one way to indicate tech. Many suppliers of IT products are interested in metallic-appearance resins. Compounders like RTP and Polyone (formerly M. A. Hanna) are developing products for this growing application area.

Microsoft has also developed two mice, the IntelliMouse Explorer and the IntelliMouse Optical. Each device’s optical sensor scans a surface -- wood, plastic or even a pant leg -- 1,500 times per second and tracks the smallest motion. No parts move so these mice avoid dust or lint that can make a ball stick or skip. Clear polycarbonate was the base material, tinted in red to reveal the circuitry. Microsoft would have liked a metallic molded part but stayed with a painted ABS since the quality is still not there. Microsoft opted to spray a soft-touch elastomeric material on the ABS housing.

Construction

Profile extruders team to develop new products
Two North American profile extruders have joined forces to engineer, develop and manufacture structural foam and composite products for the window and door industry.

Milwaukee-based Gossen Corp. and Vinyl Building Products Inc. of Oakland, N.J., are just over a month into their partnership. The companies hope that combining their strengths will help each boost their market share. Vinyl Building Products strength is the extrusion of Rigid PVC while Cellular Foam is Gossen’s forte. As the construction market gears up for a slight dip, both companies seek to avoid commoditization of their products. Vinyl Building Products uses the Celuca process of making foam-filled PVC profiles. This is an attractive process to Gossen.

Gossen’s goal is to produce one new product per week. Currently, they are producing one new product every two-and-a-half weeks. Gossen sells PVC profiles for the window and door, weather strip, furniture and building and construction markets.

Vinyl Building Products, operated through German conglomerate Thyssen AG´s polymer business segment designs, engineers and extrudes the primary components that go into Vinyline brand rigid vinyl window and door systems, according to the company´s Web site.

NEW POLYMER DEVELOPMENTS

Dow has recently introduced a line of blended resins for the rapidly growing IT market. Amplify äalloys of thermoplastic polyurethane and ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) are claimed to form a unique polymer with a balance of toughness, strength, chemical resistance, dimensional stability and high flow processability. Market development manager, Craig Brown, says there is no compromise in properties or characteristics as is often the case with resin alloys e.g. dimensional stability for chemical resistance; impact resistance for flow.

“Amplify alloys will eliminate the need for compromises, offering a performance combination that can add incremental value by helping to reduce overall costs."

Dow is aiming the new line at IT applications such as cell phones, personal digital assistants and other small electronic devices. Potential applications also exist for these products in housings for cordless power tools and even automotive bumper beams. The High flow of these alloys allow processors to fill large, long flow-length parts. Because these resins exhibit lower moisture pick-up and lower shrinkage than competitive blends, better dimensional stability is achieved without compromising chemical resistance.

For more information, contact Dow at 800 441-4369 or visit their web site at www.dowengineeringplastics.com.

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Have you ever wanted to design a soft black plastic food utensil or a baby toy?

GLS Corp., McHenry, Ill., can now help you with its line of Dynaflex 7900 series of TPEs that meet FDA sanctions of CFR 21, Sections 170 to199. This means that the entire line, available in hardness ranges from Shore Durometer A30 to A80 and both black and while, can be used for food contact.

GLS says the FDA sanction opens up a variety of new application areas for the black grades including cookware, appliances, toys, cups and eating ware, food packaging products, tubing for food processing and cap-liners. For more information, contact GLS at 815 385-8500 or send e-mail to info@glscorp.com.

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BP Amoco plc and Solvay SA have swapped some resin businesses and formed joint ventures in high density polyethylene. Although BP Amoco’s intention to sell the Engineering Polymers unit was clear, Solvay was not high on the list of expected suitors. In the swap BP Amoco will acquire 800 M tons of polypropylene capacity making it the second largest producer of polypropylene (Basell is the largest). Solvay will acquire the high performance polymers business of BPAmoco that includes polysulfones, polyketone, polyamide imide and liquid crystal polymers. This acquisition positions Solvay in the ETP market almost overnight. Solvay has had experience with specialty automotive businesses and some experience with high temperature nylon (IXEF). The joint ventures for HDPE will be in the US and in Europe.

NEW PROCESS DEVELOPMENTS

Injection molders in Michigan can now get expert advice on hot runner systems from one of the world's leading manufacturers of the processing aids, Mold-Masters. The company has just opened a $500,000 technical center at Mount Clemens, Mich., where a 10,000 sq. ft. facility will focus primarily on the automotive industry and enabling both academic and hands-on training. Mold-Masters says it wants to educate processors and provide them with the knowledge they need to run their business independently and at maximum efficiency.

Hot runner systems regulate the temperature and flow of molten plastic between the injection molding machine and the mold. In doing so, the hot runner enhances the economics of the molding process by improving cycle times and reducing or eliminating scrap.

Special technology developments
Butler-MacDonald Inc. announced it would be the first U.S. recycler to buy an electrostatic separation system from Hamos GmbH Recycling- und Separationstechnik of Penzberg, Germany. Indianapolis-based Butler-MacDonald specializes in sorting and recycling plastics from durable goods.

Butler-MacDonald will be able to increase its customer base by allowing for more precise separation and a higher purity, sellable stream of recovered plastics. For example, many contaminated and commingled plastic parts from automotive or electronics applications were difficult to sort and restore to any sellable degree of purity.

Teamed with the density separation method, the electrostatic process is able to distinguish previously difficult to sort materials like polypropylene from polyethylene, polystyrene from ABS and acrylic from polycarbonate. With the new system, the company has had success recovering, at 99.9 percent purity, polycarbonate and clear acrylic from automotive headlamp housings, plus rigid and flexible PVC from industrial floor sweeps.

The electrostatic plastic separation method works by identifying materials by a positive or negative charge. That mechanism separates the plastics.

Butler-MacDonald has agreed to unofficially represent Hamos in the United States. Because they are the first US installation they could do pilot runs to demonstrate the system for Hamos.

TOOLING

Extrusion Dies, Inc. (EDI), the largest producer of flat dies for film, sheet, and coatings, has established a new web site that provides extrusion processors and web converters anywhere in the world with instant access to information about making their old dies as good as new

The site, www.reworkdies.com, describes the advanced engineering and machining systems used by EDI to restore dies to as-new condition, outlines options for modifying die dimensions or adding capabilities such as automated gauge control, discusses typical costs and lead times, and provides an e-mail link to Die Remanufacturing Services.

Rework is a core business at EDI. The company currently remanufactures 350 dies annually. They work with dies from other manufacturers as well as their own.

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